We hired Melissa as our night doula for our second child, and it was one of the best investments we've ever made! From our very first Zoom consult, we just clicked -- her approach matched exactly what we were looking for, and she didn't push her own agenda. During our time together, Melissa was always super reliable and communicative. She showed up on time, gave us updates about how the night went via a shared doc, and provided the option of backup doula support for the few instances she was unavailable. She did baby laundry, washed bottles and pump parts, and unloaded our dishwasher so we were set up well for the following day. But what we loved most about Melissa was her steady, reassuring presence. From the get-go, she made it clear that she would center her care around our unique family needs and wishes. We had many practical, down-to-earth conversations about feeding and sleeping routines, always taking both evidence-based information AND our mental health into consideration. And with a healthy dose of humor, we were able to zoom out instead of sweating all the small stuff. It's this thoughtful and holistic approach that really made us feel supported and seen. Thanks to Melissa's support, we can confidently reflect on this postpartum time as one of joy and ease. We feel incredibly lucky to have found her. And if you're expecting ... do yourself a favor and book her! read more

Melissa was an incredible night doula to have by our side. She helped my wife with lactation expertise and supported us through through the first weeks after our son's birth. Her calm presence and steady guidance made all the difference! She showed up for us with so much care and reassurance during a time that could have felt overwhelming. We can't recommend Melissa enough to any family looking for a doula who will truly show up for them! read more

Melissa was an incredible night doula after my son was born. Being a new mom, I am so grateful to have had her as a resource for lactation, infant sleep, and much more. Melissa was professional, kind, and helpful (waking up to laundry folded and bottles washed was a blessing). Our entire family looked forward to her nights, even our dog, Nugget, rushed joyfully to the door when she arrived. I can't say enough good things about Melissa and will be contacting her again when it's time for baby number 2. read more

My partner and I fortunately found Melissa online through some local searches for doulas. She's already been vouched for by a local bay area doula group, which has strict criteria. Even before our little one came, we felt immediately comfortable with her over video chat and our preliminary meet. She exemplifies a rare combination of professionalism, skill, knowledge, and personableness that were really the main traits we were looking for in a post partum doula. During one of the most vulnerable times of our lives, Melissa was someone who provided comfort through knowledge, acknowledgment, and humor. She was able to advise on everything from bottle management and lactation to baby wearing. The extra hours she helped us get during overnight shifts were invaluable and I wouldn't hesitate to have her again. PS pets love her and she loves pets. read more

I think Melissa may be a baby whisperer... We had a video call first before meeting in person and we knew from the start we wanted to work with her. As first time parents feeling completely overwhelmed, Melissa was a calm in the storm. We not only looked forward to the nights she came for the extra sleep, but because she instantly made us feel more at ease. Checking in with us wanting to hear about how the day had went and reassuring us on all of the "is this normal?!" Questions FTP have. Because she has been doing this for so long she has seen everything and also seemingly knows everything it was like taking a baby 101 class. In the 8 weeks we shared with Melissa it felt like she became a part of our family and I truly don't know what we would have done without her. As others have said handing over your baby to a "stranger" can be nerve wracking, but Melissa made us feel so at ease. Even on days where our newborn had been screaming and fussing for hours before melissa came, we would pass her off and she would instantly calm in her arms. Last thing I will say is as a breastfeeding parent it was also so comforting to have someone to talk to during the middle of the night feeds. It definitely made the long nights feel less lonely. read more

I've read that one of the five universal postpartum needs is the presence of wise women and spiritual companionship. Melissa brought that presence to our family. As a first-time parent, I felt completely underprepared when we brought my baby home. As someone mentioned in their review, Melissa became my "baby private school". She took incredible care of my baby, and it was heartwarming to see him sleeping in her arms. Breastfeeding was important to me, and I had a low milk supply. Melissa immediately shared a few referrals and encouraged me to keep at it whenever I felt down. Eventually, I was able to build up my supply, and Melissa wholeheartedly celebrated it with me. She also helped me build up my strength by pampering me with hot breakfast and fresh fruits. Melissa was proactive and helped me prepare for my baby's upcoming developmental stage. She gave me pointers on sleep training when my baby was 6 weeks old. By week 10, he started sleeping through the night, which I believe is quite a feat. What sets her apart from other doulas is that she has a gentle, holistic, practical, and evidence-based approach to newborn care and offers high-quality information, referrals and recommendations. She is kind and always knew the right thing to say, especially when I had some low moments. Above all, I enjoyed laughing with her in our kitchen and admiring my baby together. She has made a huge difference to my postpartum experience. read more

I cannot imagine our first few weeks at home without Melissa's help. Coming home with our first child, we were nervous, inexperienced, and exhausted. Melissa helped us out not only with the nuts and bolts of getting through the night, but also with a wealth of information, compassion, context, and coaching....it was like baby "private school" right in our own home. When I was feeling shaky through some ups and downs, her perspective and real talk were grounding and confidence-building-- I didn't realize how much I needed that support. She helped us understand what was normal, what was worth worrying about, and how to celebrate things that were going well. Finally, Melissa was a true professional in all respects: punctual, communicative, and efficient. We loved having her in our home, and I wish all families could enjoy support like this! read more

We were connected to Melissa through Bay Area Night Doulas, and wow, working with Melissa was one of the best decisions we made postpartum! She is professional, knowledgeable, passionate, and cared about our baby as if he were her own. In her first night with us, she got our baby to not only love the swaddle that he seemed to hate before, but to also consolidate his feedings. We were amazed at how easy she made it seem! She helped answer all of our new parent questions based on both her extensive experience and through evidence and research. Above all, she was incredibly kind and understanding, creating a safe environment in our home and with our baby. She was supportive and respectful of how we wanted to approach baby's sleep and feeding and helped guide us towards our goals. We can't recommend Melissa enough and are really sad that she was already booked since we would have liked to work with her longer! read more

Melissa is phenomenal: professional, warm, knowledgeable, dependable, trustworthy, and easy to work with. Handing your newborn to a stranger can be nerve wracking, and Melissa immediately put us at ease with her experience, grace, and safety knowledge. She was able to offer so much support and guidance, yet never pushed or stepped on our toes as parents. This was not our first baby nor night doula - and of more than 10 doulas over the years, Melissa stood in a league of her own. While the care for the baby is of course the most critical piece, it is notable that she really cared for the whole family, checking in on us, making bowls of nourishing food for nursing mom, and more. Her support allowed our family to really thrive in this period. She's the best. read more

Melissa was one of the best decisions we made postpartum, and we will miss her time with us so much. She arrived at our house 3 nights a week like a calm, knowledgeable angel, to gift us a few extra hours of precious sleep and answer our multitudes of new parent questions. She is amazing with babies, but I think her greatest strength is her deep expertise and ability to quickly and calmly pull from her well of knowledge whenever we had a question or concern. We immediately felt comfortable with her, and she became a friend as well as supporter, chatting and laughing in the kitchen for a few minutes each night before we went to sleep. Having her here gave us the ability to truly SLEEP (not half sleep with one ear open for baby cries), and it felt so luxurious to know our newborn was in great hands while we got our delicious rest. She helped us step into new parenthood a little less sleepless and a little more at peace. And for that, we will be forever grateful. Highly recommend her if you want to invest in yourselves during this often stressful and uncertain time. You won't regret it. read more

Melissa were with us since our baby came from the hospital - we were first time parents and even though we did a lot of research prior to baby's arrival it's so nice to have someone who is experienced and calm to help us navigate the first 6 weeks. We learned how to swaddle, burp and also positions that our baby liked from her. She'd sanitized bottles, do baby laundry when the baby was asleep. As a result, we got enough sleep, established a routine and that set a good foundation for us when she left. I interviewed a couple of postpartum doulas before I decided to work with her, she is by far the most supportive and knowledgable. She asked what my goals were and worked out strategy to achieve that. Highly recommend! read more

Amazingly helpful. Couldn't recommend more highly. In addition to allowing us to sleep, Melissa was a fantastic resource in helping us decode our baby's behavior. Is this normal? We had no idea. Melissa helped us understand our baby, especially during those early days when everything was so new to us. read more

Melissa helped us out for months 2 and 3, after bringing our newborn twins (born via surrogate) home to San Francisco. She seamlessly coordinated with another doula the entire time, taking all work off my plate when it came to logistics. She is incredibly reliable, smart, organized, kind, and flexible. There was no problem handling two at a time! She was also receptive to feedback while the babies' sleeping schedule changed weekly, and was a wealth of information whenever we asked a question. We actually booked Melissa for months 4 and 5 as well, but the kids were doing so well at night that we were able to taper down quicker than expected. I highly recommend Melissa if you want peace of mind at night with your little one(s). Fun bonus: as someone who is type A organized, I loved how amazing she is at folding tiny clothing :D. read more

We were referred to Bay Area Night Doulas by a friend and it was the best decision we ever made! Melissa was our postpartum doula for 3 months after our first child was born in March 2021, and I can't say enough about how wonderful she was. She was kind, knowledgeable, supportive, and basically served as our one-stop shop for all new-baby questions, from breastfeeding to sleep to c-section recovery and baby brain development. She helped calm our nerves as new parents by separating the normal bumps in the road from things we should call our doctor about, and put our minds at ease to help us get some much-needed sleep in the early days. We were so fortunate to work with her. I can't recommend Melissa or Bay Area Night Doulas highly enough! read more

Melissa was outstanding to work with - I can't say enough positive things about her! We worked with other night doulas in the past when we had our first child, and Melissa is by far the best! She's super reliable, calm, nonjudgemental, warm, knowledgable, and thoughtful. I really felt supported, in so many ways. She was so sweet and lovely with our son, and I got SUCH good sleep when she was here knowing she was taking good care of him! She helped us work toward sleep training when he was ready too. She helped us by folding laundry and making oatmeal here and there, which was a total plus :). Incredibly worth the expense - completely transformed my postpartum experience. read more

Melissa is the BEST. She was so incredibly good with our son and she answered all of my questions (and I had so many). I think I saw every lactation specialist at our hospital and pediatrician's office and it was Melissa who helped my son and I nurse successfully. She is gifted. I truly do not know what we would have done without her. She is worth every penny and more and I cannot imagine a more patient, kind and peaceful person to help guide you through the wonderful (and incredibly challenging at times) first months with your little one. She will make you a better mom and you will be so glad she is by your side. read more

We loved Melissa! Our baby boy Ollie took to Melissa right away. She has a great way with babies and he immediately felt comfortable with her. You can tell she truly loves babies and what she does. It is our first baby - and we were rather clueless on what to do once we got home from the hospital. She was a wealth of knowledge and helped with any of our questions- I think that without her i probably would have woken our baby up at even the slightest movement he made at night - she assured me that babies move and grunt during the night and they are fine. Our little guy is almost 5 month and has had great night time sleep schedule- and i honestly think that its because of Melissa. She is really great at helping you and being there to support you during the night- without over stepping her boundaries and she lets you be the best mom you can be. At the beginning - Melissa would bring him in for me to nurse him at night- but after a few weeks i started pumping- and she would give him the bottle at night- and with her there- and knowing he was in good hands- i could actually get a full nights rest! On the nights she would bring him in to me to nurse- she would get me water, or a snack if i needed- and then she would let me be with my little guy- which i really appreciated.. Melissa would let me have my time with my baby- but if i had questions or needs- she was right there in the wings. It was also great that she was a lactation consultant - i had some hind milk/ foremilk issues and overproduction- and she suggested block feeding for a while to take care of that. I got a clogged duct- and i texted her about it and she quickly responded with what i needed to do to take care of it. She helped me pick out a pump to get- and how often i needed to be pumping. She gave us pointers on how to start introducing the bottle to our baby. Her style really suited our family well...She is very relaxed and friendly - and never made me feel like i wasn't being the mom. Her approach is really to help you be the best mom you can be She is the best! read more

We had our baby on July 8th, 2012 and used Melissa for a night doula. She was fantastic. I can't even believe there is a better night doula in existence. She clearly does this because she loves babies - and she will love your baby! She doesn't really sleep like most night nurses do unless there's absolutely nothing to do and even then it's with one eye open. She made me snacks and you could tell they were lovingly made (she even brought awesome homemade lactation cookies which everyone in my family ate...), she helped with minor dishes, washed bottles, sterilized, did baby laundry,...she was amazing. She was a huge help with my milk production advice and general day to day advice. I often awaited her arrival every night with questions and she always answered them patiently. She had every baby book in her library to lend me that I could have wanted. She was so knowledgeable on breast feeding and she's definitely a large part of the reason my milk production is so strong. She treats this as her profession - not just a job. You can tell how professional she is right away. She has a website, she is certified, she even gave us a survey after we finished using her after 3 months. We also used another night nurse who was very good. And we rent our rental unit to a night nurse so I feel we speak from good perspective when we say Melissa is probably one of the best out there! You'd be lucky to have her take care of your baby. read more

Melissa is so unbelievably wonderful it makes me want to cry writing this. Her help as a night doula had a huge impact on every area of my life. I was not over tired and therefore I enjoyed my baby and my husband. Before her help I was not sleeping and I was feeling extremely depressed and panicked. But when she arrived to help us I had a complete transformation. I know it is an unbelievable privilege to even think about hiring a night doula but I can say without any hesitation that it was the best money I have ever spent. Melissa is a lovely person. She is completely trustworthy, she was so gentle and loving to our baby, she is funny, empathetic, non judgmental, and responsible. She would arrive at our house at exactly 10:00. I have literally never known a more on time person in my life. I believe her help allowed me to truly enjoy the experience of being a new mother. read more

Melissa was a lifesaver. Our 7 month old's sleep had been totally disrupted by travel and illness. Melissa listened carefully to our full history an gave us a concrete, practical and caring plan to help our son (and us) get some sleep. We followed her advice and the turn around was remarkable. Melissa is knowledgeable on the subject of sleep and babies. She gained this both from personal experience as a mom and night nurse, as well as from working with other sleep professionals and keeping up on current research and training. We trusted her completely and felt that she treated the problem holistically and cared for all of us and our well being. read more

Me-lis-sa! Me-lis-sa! Me-lis-sa! I have 3 kids and have had 6 different night doulas over the years, so I know what I am talking about when I say Melissa Koning is wonderful!! She has the most gentle and kind demeanor about her, which is exactly the kind of person you want to take care of your newborn. But more importantly she is extremely knowledgeable about everything from nursing to infant schedules to sleep secrets. I also really appreciated how she gave me feedback - she gave me choices and options and made me feel good about myself, helping me be a better mom to my kids. Awesome. And for those of you who think night doulas are expensive, you are right, but I believe they are worth every penny because they make you a better parent. read more

I've decided to talk to a lactation consultant after breastfeeding has become a struggle for the last month and a half. I'm so happy I chose Melissa! Prior to the meeting she sent a list of questions to understand the issue I was facing. When she arrived we connected almost immediately. She's super friendly and professional. She asked lots of questions in order to pinpoint the reason for problem.. Melissa won't judge you, simply make suggestions or provide pointers. She eventually was able to identify the root cause of the issue (it was a tongue tie), something that our pediatrician didn't even care to check. Finally, her rate is very reasonable, even though it that's not the reason you should consider consulting with her. read more

We gave birth to our twins in September 2012 and used Melissa as our night doula for 5 months. She was with us from the first night we took our babies home from the hospitaI until a couple weeks ago. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Melissa. Melissa was so incredibly loving, sweet and gentle with our babies. She made it possible for my husband and I to sleep soundly through the night knowing our babies were in such trusted hands. Having Melissa truly made the difference between enjoying our time as new parents versus getting through each day. Besides being so amazing with our babies, Melissa was also professional and reliable. Every night she worked, we could count on the fact that she would show up on time and be prepared for the evening's work. She is so knowledgeable about her work and she is always continuing her education by attending conferences, professional development, etc. Melissa was helpful and supportive when we had questions and needed sound advice on: breastfeeding, pumping, formula feeding, sleep training, napping, swaddling, and so much more. We feel so lucky to have had Melissa as our night doula - she made the experience of becoming new parents to twins such a special one! read more